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Current Resident Biographies
Elio Adib – Elio was born in Byblos, a coastal city in Lebanon. He studied Physics at the American University of Beirut before attending medical school at the same institution. After graduation, he moved to Boston to work as a postdoctoral research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His research work focused on the interplay between germline/somatic variants and cancer progression and response to therapy. Outside of work, Elio enjoys cooking his favorite Lebanese dishes, spending time with friends and family and exploring the salsa dancing scene in Boston.
Abrar Choudhury – Abrar was born and raised in the Bay Area in sunny California. His first foray to the East Coast was as an undergraduate at Princeton University, where he majored in Molecular Biology. After college, he joined the MD/PhD program at UCSF. He earned his PhD in Biomedical Sciences in David Raleigh’s lab, where he studied the biologic drivers and therapeutic vulnerabilities of meningiomas. After medical school, he spent one more year in San Francisco, completing his preliminary internship in Internal Medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco. He is excited to join the HROP community and continue his physician-scientist journey. Outside of work, Abrar enjoys crossword puzzles (both solving and creating!), trying new restaurants, and hiking. He is looking forward to exploring everything Boston has to offer!
Laurel Darragh – Laurel grew up in Davis, California, where she enjoyed running, biking, and hiking in the Sierra Nevada. She attended Cornell University, majoring in Human Biology, Health, and Society, then moved to Denver to complete an MD/PhD program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her PhD in Immunology examined how nodal radiation affects the systemic immune response in the context of combination immunotherapy and SBRT for head and neck cancer. Outside of work, she enjoys the outdoors, good food, and time with her husband, two dogs, and loved ones.
Zoe Cosner – Zoe was born and raised in Miami, Florida. She attended University of Miami for undergraduate where she double majored in Biochemistry and Mathematics. She studied abroad at Charles University in Prague where she focused on her minor in Art History. She pursued her medical education at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute. As a medical student she was awarded with an endowed fund for medical student cancer research to pursue a research year studying the role of telomere length disorders in cancer predisposition. She also spent her research year creating and implementing a virtual elective in equitable healthcare for fourth year medical students. She completed her preliminary intern year at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD. Her hobbies include baking, hiking, swimming, travel, and art.
Sayeh Fattahi – Sayeh was born and raised in Los Angeles, where she attended a French school from kindergarten through 12th grade. She then studied Biology and French Literature at Stanford University, where she also pursued health policy research between finishing her undergraduate studies and starting medical school. She received her MD from the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, where she discovered her passion for radiation oncology and focused her research on breast cancer and ocular melanoma. Prior to HROP, she completed her intern year at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Outside of work, Sayeh enjoys traveling, trying new foods, and most importantly, petting every dog she meets along the way!
Carla Fitch – Carla was born and raised in Southern California, and attended college at Walla Walla University in Washington state, where she studied Religion with minors in Biology and Chemistry. She moved back home for medical school at Loma Linda University, where she quickly fell in love with Radiation Oncology. She has worked on a number of different research projects in basic science, cancer biology, and clinical research, but the most rewarding project she has done was developing and analyzing the efficacy of a novel method of integrating Social Determinants of Health education into her medical school’s curriculum. She is excited to continue learning from and about her patients as she starts her training at HROP. Outside of medicine, Carla is an avid reader and enjoys weightlifting, yoga, and exploring new coffee shops and restaurants with her husband and their dog, Frankie.
Gabriela Gomez – Gabriela grew up in a small town in New York and studied Neuroscience and Visual Arts at Duke University. After graduating, she conducted neurodegenerative disease research at the National Institute on Aging and enjoyed spending time as a hospice companion and Alzheimer’s Association Congressional Team member. She attended Johns Hopkins for medical school and earned an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. During this time, her research leveraged proteomics to study brain aging and cerebrovascular disease, and her clinical interests included geriatric oncology, patient-provider communication, and end-of-life care. Gabriela completed her preliminary year in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and is excited to continue her training at HROP. Outside of medicine, she enjoys weightlifting, biking, and time with loved ones.
Jacob Hogan – Jake grew up on Roosevelt Island in New York City where he enjoyed pizza, bagels, and visiting Central Park. He moved to Utah for high school and his bachelor’s at BYU where he studied bioinformatics. He then attended Washington University in St. Louis for medical school where he researched health economics. In his free time, he and his wife enjoy going to the beach and trying new foods.
Paul Kinkopf – Paul grew up in Baltimore, MD, before heading to the Midwest to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics at the University of Notre Dame (Go Irish!). He then moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where his research largely focused on identifying novel prognostic factors in patients with endometrial cancer. He moved back to the East Coast for his transitional year at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and is now thrilled to be a part of HROP. In his free time, he enjoys exploring new restaurants, traveling, weightlifting, and keeping up with his favorite sports teams.
Emily Kolyvas – Emily grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. She attended the Medical College of Wisconsin for medical school and completed her PhD in Medical Sciences (Oncology) through the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program at the University of Cambridge. Emily completed her doctoral research in the laboratories of Professor Carlos Caldas at the University of Cambridge and Dr. Kathy Kelly at the National Cancer Institute, where she studied strategies to radio-sensitize breast cancer by combining androgen receptor inhibition with DNA damage response pathway inhibition. She completed her transitional year at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. Outside of medicine, she enjoys cooking, traveling, hiking, and cheering on the Chicago Cubs.
Katherine Lake – Katherine grew up in Dallas, Texas and studied Physics and Biology at the University of Virginia. After graduation, she returned to Dallas to spend a year at UT Southwestern Medical Center conducting cancer drug discovery research using cell line models before attending medical school at UT Southwestern. There, she developed a deep passion for oncology and cancer research, leading projects spanning genetic heterogeneity in cancer organoid models, identifying novel therapeutic targets in breast cancer mouse models, and retrospective clinical studies of patients with indolent lymphomas. During medical school, she was drawn to radiation oncology by the opportunity to build meaningful longitudinal relationships with patients while pursuing translational cancer research. She completed her preliminary internship in Internal Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas before joining the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program. Katherine is excited to continue learning from her patients, colleagues, and mentors throughout residency. Outside of medicine, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their cat, Nemo, exploring the outdoors, and discovering new restaurants around Boston.
Emerson Lee – Emerson was born and raised in Kansas City, MO. He studied Neurobiology at Harvard College before moving south to Baltimore for medical school at Johns Hopkins. There, he was initially interested in the intersection between geriatric medicine and palliative care before pivoting to radiation oncology, receiving an endowed cancer research fellowship and spending a research year on biomarkers in prostate cancer, CNS metastases, and radiomics. He returned to Boston for an intern year in internal medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and is excited to continue his training at HROP! In his free time, he enjoys trying new restaurants, kayaking on the Charles, cheering on the Celtics, and perusing Zillow listings.
Kingson Lin – Kingson hails from Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he obtained his bachelor’s in biochemistry and master’s in chemistry. While at Penn, he developed a passion for organic chemistry after working in a synthetic chemistry laboratory. During his junior year, he became fascinated with oncology after taking a cancer biology course at the Wistar Institute. Kingson went to Yale for his MD-PhD with the goal of combining these two interests to help cancer patients. During his PhD, he performed interdisciplinary research focused on developing novel small molecule cancer therapeutics for glioblastoma. He stayed in Connecticut to complete his preliminary medicine year prior to joining the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program. Outside of medicine, Kingson is an avid chef, amateur pickleball player, board game geek, biotech entrepreneur, and corgi aficionado.
Paras Minhas – Paras was born in Baltimore, Maryland, raised in New Jersey, and attended undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh. He majored in microbiology with a minor in chemistry and was named a Goldwater and Marshall Scholar during his time at Pitt. After college, he joined the M.D./Ph.D. program at Stanford University where he earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience in the laboratory of Katrin Andreasson, examining metabolic reprogramming of innate immune cells in aging and inflammation. During his time at Stanford he also led the student-run free clinics, serving as clinic manager for Pacific Free Clinic in San Jose, California, helping to recruit underrepresented minorities in medicine as well as aid underserved communities in the Bay Area. He has been awarded the Gerald J. Lieberman Fellowship, the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship, as well as the University of Pennsylvania Mary and Joseph A. Pignolo, Sr. Award and Lectureship in Aging Research. He completed his intern year at Memorial Sloan Kettering and is very excited to be joining HROP! When he has spare time outside of clinical and research duties, Paras enjoys playing with his Corgi-German Shepherd mix Athena and kayaking with his wife Michelle!
David Morse – David Morse is from Knoxville, TN and studied biophysics at the University of Tennessee. He completed an MPhil in Nanoscience at the University of Cambridge as a Fulbright and Whitaker Fellow, developing nanoparticle approaches for drug delivery and radiosensitization in glioblastoma. He then earned a PhD in Physics through the NIH OxCam program between Cambridge, Harvard, and the NIH, building microfluidic single-cell genomic tools to study tumor heterogeneity and spatial structure. David received his MD from Harvard Medical School and completed his transitional year at Cambridge Health Alliance. Outside the hospital, he enjoys hiking and biking with his wife, and dancing with his two daughters.
Acacia Mouzakitis – Acacia (Caci) Mouzakitis grew up in Dexter, Michigan and completed her undergraduate degree in Biophysics at the University of Michigan. She then moved to Milwaukee to join the MD-PhD program at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She completed her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Brian Volkman studying structure-function relationships of chemokine proteins with a focus on metamorphic, or shape-shifting, proteins. She stayed in Milwaukee to complete her intern year at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center before moving to Boston to join HROP. Outside of work, she enjoys running, bicycling, hiking, swimming, and reading novels.
Shane Neibart – Shane grew up in Morristown, New Jersey before attending Duke University to study biomedical engineering. After graduation, he worked at NYU in a stem cell biology and regenerative medicine laboratory before matriculating at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School as a Chancellor’s Global Health Scholar. There he developed his passions for developing cervical cancer prevention strategies, exploring cancer epidemiology, and investigating drug-radiation interactions. After medical school, Shane moved to Boston to complete his preliminary year in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital before joining the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program. Outside of the hospital, Shane enjoys spending time with his wife (a surgery resident at MGH) and daughter, fishing, and hiking.
Elizabeth Olatunji – Elizabeth was born in Ikeja, Nigeria and raised near Tampa, Florida. She received her BS in molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale College, her MPhil in public health at Cambridge University through the Paul Mellon Fellowship, and her MD at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Outside of work, Elizabeth enjoys reading (big C.S. Lewis fan), strength training, thrifting, taking excessively long walks and spending time with her husband and their family and friends.
Akshat Patel – Akshat grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Rice University, studying Sociology and Biochemistry as well as volunteering with Camp Kesem, a camp for children whose families have been affected by cancer. He then went to UT Southwestern Medical School where he was involved in a variety of clinical research projects focusing on lymphoma, GU cancers, and health disparities. Before joining HROP, he did his internship at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where he further developed his passion for holistically caring for cancer patients (so he is very excited to begin his radiation oncology training!). Outside of work, he enjoys reading literary fiction and sci-fi/fantasy novels, playing pickleball and basketball, hosting dinner/cocktail parties, and hiking.
Palak Patel – Palak was born and raised in Fort Pierce, FL. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida (Go Gators!) with a major in Microbiology & Cell Science and minors in Theatre and Arts in Medicine. She then moved to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. As a medical student, she fell in love with Radiation Oncology and conducted research in spinal SBRT, pediatric neurocognitive outcomes, and improving patient anxiety through the arts. She completed her preliminary internal medicine training at Mercy Medical Center. She loves traveling, fitness, trying new restaurants, poetry, fashion, and spending quality time with her family and friends.
Nadia Saeed – Nadia grew up in Tampa, Florida and received her BA in Classics from Brown University. She developed a strong interest in radiation oncology while working at Moffitt Cancer Center, where she conducted clinical research on gastrointestinal malignancies and collaborated on a number of patient and medical education projects. She attended Yale for medical school during which time she completed a research year focused on hypofractionated radiation for small cell and non-small cell lung cancer and examined the impact of physician attitudes in radiation oncology decision making. Nadia completed her transitional year internship at HCA Florida Brandon Hospital prior to joining the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, baking, watching movies, gardening, and playing golf.
Alice Silberstein – Alice grew up in Delray Beach, FL and attended Duke University where she studied biomedical engineering. After college, she worked at a life sciences consulting firm in Boston where she developed her interest in oncology. She then attended Washington University in St. Louis where she completed medical school and her preliminary medicine internship. During this time, she participated in oncology research projects including studying treatment adherence and financial toxicity associated with cancer treatments, as well as studying clinical outcomes following radiation with a particular focus on cervical cancer. Outside of medicine, Alice enjoys spending time with her fiancé and dog, running, and watching college basketball.
Tanooha Veeramachaneni – Tanooha is a proud Houstonian who attended the University of Houston (Go Coogs!), where she founded her university chapter of Camp Kesem, a student-run camp that empowers children affected by parental cancer. She then made the long distance move to Dallas where she attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and developed a strong interest in health policy. She advocated for physician gender pay parity through the Texas Medical Association (TMA) and later served as Chair of the TMA Medical Student Section’s Executive Council. She also pursued research interests including ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy in refractory/relapsed lymphomas as well as health equity research investigating the race modifier in the eGFR formula culminating in changes to her institution’s guidelines. After finishing her intern year at Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas, she finally ventured beyond Texas to join the HROP community! Outside of work she enjoys dancing, traveling, horseback riding, and trying afternoon tea wherever she goes.
Ethan Wang – Ethan was born in Madison, Wisconsin, grew up in Houston, Texas, then studied biology as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin. He earned his medical degree at UT Southwestern Medical School and completed his intern year at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His research interests focus on applications of AI to radiation oncology across treatment sites as well as within medicine more broadly. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, snowboarding, PC gaming, calisthenics, and travel. ”
Jennifer Zagelbaum – Jen, a native New Yorker, went to CUNY Hunter College where she studied biology and women and gender studies. During this time, she worked in the Eli Rothenberg lab at NYU, where she used super resolution microscopy to study the intricacies of DNA damage repair. Wishing to follow her passions for both clinical oncology and cancer genetics, she obtained her M.D./Ph.D. at Columbia University. Her thesis project in Jean Gautier’s lab used genomic approaches to analyze the formation of chromosome translocations. Before coming to HROP, she did her transitional year at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. During residency she looks forward to continuing her journey towards becoming a physician scientist in the field of genome integrity. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running, and going on adventures with her wife and dogs, Benji and Mister.
Johnathan Zeng – John was born in Lexington, KY, and his family currently lives in Jersey City, NJ. He attended the University of Pennsylvania as a Rachleff Scholar, where he received a B.S.E. in bioengineering. After college, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct public health research at Sichuan University in Southwest China. During medical school, he completed a research year at the National Institutes of Health in the Medical Research Scholars Program. Before joining the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program, he completed his preliminary medicine internship at Mount Auburn Hospital. Outside of the hospital he enjoys taking walks with his family. He also enjoys traveling the world, learning languages, watching college basketball, and playing keyboard and guitar.
Iowis Zhu – Iowis grew up in Maryland and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Afterwards, he attended the Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) at the University of California, San Francisco. Iowis earned his PhD in Biomedical Sciences in the lab of Dr. Kole Roybal, where he worked on SNIPRs, a class of engineered receptors for enhancing transcriptional control of T-cell therapeutics. He completed his preliminary internship year in Internal Medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Iowis is also an avid sports fan and enjoys cooking, traveling, and exploring Boston with his wife!
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